Toronto FC lost 4-1 to the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field on Wednesday night.
The visitors took the lead in the 27th minute when Emil Forsberg converted from the penalty spot after video review deemed Shane O’Neill to have committed a foul on Lewis Morgan. Toronto looked to have drawn level as halftime approached with Kevin Long directing a Federico Bernardeschi corner kick in, only for video review to determine that Derrick Etienne Jr. was obstructing the goalkeeper’s view from an offside position, thus ruling it out.
The Red Bulls would add a second in the 48th minute when John Tolkin was played into space on the left and his shot beat Sean Johnson. TFC would pull one back in the 66th minute when Prince Owusu scored from the penalty spot after Richie Laryea was fouled, but another New York penalty three minutes later, converted by Morgan, reinstated the two-goal cushion.
Elias Manoel would add a fourth in the 88th minute on the counter as Toronto pushed to find a way back into the game.
“Not good enough. No excuses, just not good enough,” said John Herdman post-match. “Not good enough tactically, not good enough with the setup, and not good enough on the pitch.”
“It wasn't until the second half the team really started to show up. We needed to go a goal down before we woke up. It was almost like we were sleepwalking,” he continued. “Even as a staff, just not being able to find the solutions. We’ve got to own this, the whole group. This isn't a player thing. This was a coaching staff [being] too passive, it was a team that were too passive in a game that we had to be strong in.”
“We had to have personality, we had to have character, we had to fight,” Herdman added. “We needed all of that and it just wasn't there. It wasn't there.”
TFC captain Jonathan Osorio spoke to the media afterwards.
“The key for me was the way we started: it was just not good enough,” he began. “It wasn't with the mentality of a team fighting for playoffs, fighting at home.”
“Tactically we could not adjust quickly; saying that, for the first 18, 20 minutes we were weathering the storm and we thought if we could get on the other side of it, the game could flip in our favour, but then they get a penalty,” Osorio continued. “We started the second half slow again. We let in a goal, get ourselves back in the game, and then another penalty. The story of the season, killing ourselves. We killed ourselves the whole season, did it again today.”
“Just not good enough to be honest.” he levelled. “It's not a case of effort – guys are giving everything on the pitch. It's more so a naivety in our team, not enough players that have been in big moments or pressure situations. That cost us today.”
The out of town results were mixed. Toronto remains in one of the play-in positions in the Eastern Conference, holding onto the final spot by dint of the first tie-breaker (wins), level on points with both the Philadelphia Union and D.C. United, who each have a game in hand.
TFC will play their final match of the regular season on Saturday with the visit of Inter Miami CF to BMO Field. Miami lifted the Supporters’ Shield midweek with a win over the Columbus Crew.
A victory then will give the side a chance.
“We didn't look like a team ready for the playoffs tonight – mentally, emotionally. We’ve got two days to turn that around,” ordered Herdman. “We could win this weekend and we're in. We don't know that, but that's the only thing in our control.”
Said Osorio: “There is not really a choice.”
“We have to win on Saturday and then, at this point, we have to hope – we count on other results now, unfortunately. It's not all in our hands,” he closed. “We have to control what we can control: that’s our performance on Saturday, that's to get a win on Saturday. There is really nothing else – without a win we won't be in. With a win we give ourselves at least a chance.”
